GEO Group, Inc.: Despite a Crashing Economy, Private Prison Firm Turns a Handsome Profitby Erin Rosa, Special to CorpWatch March 1st, 2009While the nation’s economy flounders, business is booming for The GEO Group Inc., a private prison firm paid millions by the U.S. government. Behind the financial success and expansion of the for-profit security company, there are increasing charges of negligence, civil rights violations, abuse and even death.

Popular Uprising Against Barrick Gold in Tanzania sparked by killing of localby Sakura Saunders, ProtestBarrick.netDecember 14th, 2008Why would "criminals" set fire to millions worth in mine equipment?
How was it that these "intruders" had an estimated 3,000 people backing them up?
In what appears to be a spontaneous civilian movement against Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner, thousands of people invaded Barrick`s North Mara Gold Mine this week in Tarime District and destroyed equipment worth $15 million.

US: Plea by Blackwater Guard Helps Indict Othersby GINGER THOMPSON and JAMES RISEN, New York Times December 9th, 2008On Monday, the Justice Department unsealed its case against five Blackwater private security guards, built largely around testimony from a sixth guard about the 2007 shootings that left 17 unsuspecting Iraqi civilians dead at a busy Baghdad traffic circle.

One Million Weapons to Iraq; Many Go Missingby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch September 22nd, 2008An Alabama company controlled by a billionaire Kuwaiti family is the biggest supplier of guns to Iraq. These weapons were paid for by the Pentagon which has lost track of them. A new Amnesty international report says that such unrestrained global arms trading schemes may have catastrophic human rights consequences.

IRAQ: Iraq Case Sheds Light On Secret Contractorsby Siobhan Gorman and August Cole, Wall Street JournalJuly 17th, 2008Court documents and interviews with whistleblowers shed light on persistent problems in the operations of private military and security company MVM, Inc., a top provider of secret security to U.S. intelligence agencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US: Arms Dealer Had Troubled History
by ERIC SCHMITT, The New York TimesJune 25th, 2008When the Army last year awarded a contract worth up to nearly $300 million to a tiny Miami Beach munitions dealer to supply ammunition to Afghanistan’s army and police forces, it was in spite of a very checkered past.

US: Cover-Up Is Cited on Illegal Arms
by ERIC SCHMITT, The New York TimesJune 24th, 2008A military attaché has told Congressional investigators that the American ambassador to Albania endorsed a plan by that country’s defense minister to remove evidence of illegal Chinese origins on ammunition being shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a Miami Beach arms-dealing company.

AFGHANISTAN: Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans
by C. J. CHIVERS, The New York TimesMarch 27th, 2008With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces. Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials.

Ecuador's Yasuni Park: Oil Exploration or Nature Protection?by Agneta Enström, Special to CorpWatch March 20th, 2008Permission for Petrobras of Brazil to drill for oil in Yasuni National Park, one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, has been suspended, but some damage has already been done by Swedish construction giant Skanska. Unless new money is found to protect the forest, exploration may resume.

US: Holes in the Wall
by Melissa del Bosque, The Texas ObserverFebruary 18th, 2008As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security marches down the Texas border serving condemnation lawsuits to frightened landowners, Brownsville resident Eloisa Tamez, 72, has one simple question. She would like to know why her land is being targeted for destruction by a border wall, while a nearby golf course and resort remain untouched.

IRAQ: 2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questionsby JAMES RISEN, New York TimesJanuary 10th, 2008In 2005 Blackwater accidentally dropped teargas on US soldiers, which has raised significant new questions about the role of private security contractors in Iraq, and whether they operate under the same rules of engagement and international treaty obligations that the American military observes.

IRAQ: Bosses didn't want to expose Iraqi police corruptionby Henry McDonald, Duncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor, The GuardianDecember 24th, 2007"It appears that ArmorGroup, by taking on extra staff ... and quickly making some redundant, is essentially transferring the risk inherent in such contract work to employees while making fat profits for itself," his MP, Dr Phyllis Starkey, told the House of Commons earlier this year.